We have identified four judgments from 2022 which are significant for those in the private equity sector and may have particular relevance for sponsors, shareholders, management teams and/or appointees to boards. In this overview we summarise the key points and some of the practical implications.

The decisions we address are:

In times of economic uncertainty, fraud typically increases. And these are certainly economically uncertain times. Fraud has been on the rise over recent years and that trend is set to continue. The motivation and opportunity to commit fraud increases as financial pressures loom over individuals and businesses. We are also set to see a continued increase in insolvencies as the impact of the pandemic and other global events set in. The appointment of insolvency practitioners means frauds which might have otherwise continued or remained concealed are more likely to be uncovered.

Effective 1 January 2023, the revised Swiss Code of Obligations (CO) provides inter alia for certain new (and more stringent) duties, placed upon the members of the board of directors, regarding the financial condition of a Swiss Corporation (art. 725 et seq. CO). Directors will have to pay close attention to any threat of insolvency (illiquidity) and comply with short and non-extendable deadlines (90 days) when, in cases of over-indebtedness, pursuing restructuring measures in order to avoid filing for solvency proceedings.

In this client alert we set out some of the key lessons from the recent judgment in ABT Auto Investments Ltd v Aapico Investment Pte Ltd [2022] EWHC 2839 (Comm), which considers the validity of appropriation as an enforcement power pursuant to Regulation 17 of the Financial Collateral Arrangements (No. 2) Regulations 2003 (“FCARs”), the duty imposed on a collateral-taker by Regulation 18 of the FCARs in connection with the valuation of a collateral subject to appropriation, and provides useful guidance on what is “commercially reasonable” in this context.

December, 2022 For Private Circulation - Educational & Informational Purpose Only Between the lines... A BRIEFING ON LEGAL MATTERS OF CURRENT INTEREST KEY HIGHLIGHTS ⁎ NCLAT: Adjudicating authority has no jurisdiction to evaluate the decision of the committee of creditors to enquire into the justness of the rejection of a resolution plan. ⁎ NCLAT: Advance paid towards service is operational debt. ⁎ NCLAT: Provident fund dues are not assets of the Corporate Debtor; they have to be paid in full. ⁎ CCI: Google’s Play Store Payment Policies are anticompetitive and discriminatory.

2022 has been a challenging year. In addition to the continuing impact of COVID-19 and the recent relaxation measures in China, the war in Ukraine has also brought impacts on society, politics and businesses.

It has often been said that the route of winding up a company is the remedy of last resort in a creditor’s odyssey to recover a debt owed to it. This is as not only would the granting of a winding up order have drastic repercussions for the debtor company, but there is also no guarantee that the creditor would be able to recover the full debt thereafter.

The Royal Court in Guernsey will soon be able to wind up foreign companies.

Recent changes to Guernsey's insolvency regime will mean that, for the first time, foreign companies can be compulsorily wound up in Guernsey.

As the chill of recession bites for homes and businesses alike, SMEs are faced with the daunting prospect of navigating their way through the bleak mid-winter. In October 2022, inflation reached 11.1% and company insolvencies were 38% higher than the same period last year. Creditors’ voluntary liquidations in the same period were 53% higher than in 2019 (i.e. pre-pandemic), continuing the theme of businesses being forced to consider this terminal insolvency process, as following the pandemic they have struggled to adapt to the challenging market conditions.

Walkers acted as Cayman Islands counsel to Oriente Group Limited (the "Company”) in respect of its successful petition for the appointment of Mr Kenneth Fung of FTI Consulting (Hong Kong) Limited, Mr Andrew Morrison and Mr David Griffin of FTI Consulting (Cayman) Ltd as joint restructuring officers (the "Joint Restructuring Officers") pursuant to Section 91B of the Cayman Islands Companies Act (as amended), being the first petition under the new restructuring officer regime, which came into force on 31 August 2022.